RamsTrust condemns the decision by QPR FC to increase ticket prices Derby County's away game at Loftus Road on 27th September. To charge £40 for an adult ticket for a Championship game will price many fans out of a ticket - and also adds £10 onto the price that Derby County expected their fans to pay.

We support Derby County's objections to this price hike and urge the Football League to rule that prices should always be fair and within the pocket of ordinary fans, who are already coping with rising prices for every service or commodity they buy. Many QPR fans are also dismayed by this season's ticket price structure at Loftus Road, which sees a so-called 'Platinum' home game like Derby County costing up to £50 - and this after QPR's huge season-ticket price increases.

Each fan must make their own decision as to whether they will agree to such inflated prices but RamsTrust is alarmed that an apparently rich club like QPR chose to disregard realistic ticket pricing.

Clubs reacting by subsidising inflated ticket prices or offering travel benefits and thus offsetting high prices set by an 'offending\' club would help fans wishing to attend a match - but the offending club would still receive their demanded price for tickets. A precedent would be set in that clubs would have accepted whatever unfair price another club elected to charge.

Whilst a change of rules may be needed to ensure that clubs cannot impose arbitrarily inflated ticket prices, we suggest that Championship clubs should now agree a voluntary, transparent fair pricing code. Implementations of such a policy for both home and away fans would enable traditional grass-roots support to continue to follow their clubs.

Should the Football League condone QPR's policy or clubs not agree to treat each other's fans fairly on pricing, it would represent the thin end of the wedge in driving ordinary fans away from football stadia that they have attended for generations.